Wine

When I stirred the wine this morning, it was fizzing like well, carbonated pop. Interesting.

(I decided to stir in the mornings. I'm less likely to forget that way.)

Run out of syrup?

If you've just realized you're out of syrup (after making pancakes or waffles, of course), then raid your jelly for a solution. I used Simply Fruit Blackberry Jelly, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Put a little bit (A tablespoon or so) in a small bowl, and put it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Voila! Blackberry Syrup.

(Hint: It tastes better, too, unless you're used to using Pure Maple Syrup.)

Wine!

Well, in three weeks, at least.*

The crock is not mine. It was my Dad's grandmother's sauerkraut crock, so I think she would approve. I borrowed it on PAIN OF DEATH that it not get broken. I think my little oak table will hold it nicely.

And let me tell you--the ingredients make this crock not only heavy but really, really full, too. This is the perfect size for a full batch of this wine.

So... in three weeks I guess I'll see what happens! I do have to stir it every day, so I'm planning to stir it every night before I head up to bed. It will be like brushing my teeth; not something I will forget.

I am wondering, however, how it will smell... I guess we'll see about that too!


*hopefully

Lentil & Brown Rice Soup with Black-Eyed Peas and any Vegetable I could get my hands on

It was good.

This is soup for the week--I like to eat soup for lunch at work and I hate to buy cans of soup if I don't have to spend the money.

Here is the recipe:

Lentil & Brown Rice Soup with Black-Eyed Peas and Vegetables

1 can stewed tomatoes, chopped, with liquid
1 can black-eyed peas
1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 can corn, drained (or 1 cup frozen or fresh)
1/2 bag frozen crinkle-cut carrots (or 1 cup fresh)
1/2 bag frozen lima beans (or 1 cup fresh)
1/3 bag frozen peas and carrots (or 1 cup fresh)
13 cups of water
1 tsp. dried basil (use a bit less if fresh, and this goes for all the herbs)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
dash of pepper, or to taste
(I didn't put garlic in this, but you could definitely add some. I would add at least three cloves, chopped.)

In a large (8 qt.) pot or crock pot, combine all ingredients. Stir, then cook over low heat for 2-3 hours or until vegetables are tender and rice is done, stirring occassionally. In a crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours or until vegetables are tender and rice is done.

Serves 6-8, or a whole week's worth of lunches.

Tastes great with homemade crusty bread, or garlic bread.

Cuban Bread and Rice Wine

I made Cuban Bread from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads today, because I decided that I'd rather make something quick and finish the cleaning I needed to finish. It turned out fine, but I'm going to lessen the salt next time--it called for 2 T. and I didn't even put that much in. And I like to eat my bread without tasting the salt. Another thing I won't do next time is split it into two loaves. I also like my loaves of bread to have some weight, and this recipe only made two small loaves.

As for the Rice Wine part of the title of this post, I have an old cookbook from 1933 that I picked up in a box of cookbooks at an auction last year. This particular cookbook is The Chapel of the Good Shepherd Cook Book, a collection of autographed recipes, all tried and some of them cherished.

In this cookbook, submitted by Mrs. Julie V. Stewart, is a recipe for Rice Wine. Now, I don't drink alcohol, but I think I might just have to try this recipe. The ingredients aren't that bad (I'll post it in a minute here) but the hard part is what to put the ingredients in.

I'm posting the recipe as it is written in the book.

Rice Wine
from Mrs. Julia V. Stewart

3 pounds rice
3 sliced oranges
2 yeast cakes
7 quarts water
2 pounds seeded raisins
5 pounds granulated sugar

Put all above in crock and stir every day for 3 weeks. Strain through cheesecloth. Let stand, to be sure it is perfectly clear. Put in bottles and seal.

I'm having a hard time finding something large enough to put this in. It doesn't say cover it, but I'm assuming this is a crock with a lid she's talking about, and I don't believe I can go to just any store to buy something that will fit these ingredients. I know I don't have something that will fit all of this, except for a metal pot, and you're not supposed to use metal pots for stuff like this. So, unless I find a good deal on a very large crock or figure out something else I can use, I'm going to have to wait a bit to make my very own wine.

Or would this be something more akin to saki?

This looks interesting...

I might just have to try this: No-Knead Bread.

And this sounds like an interesting site: The Fresh Loaf.

I am going to attempt to use my Universal Bread Maker (from the early 1900s) with this recipe today. We'll see how it goes! (If I can clean it out enough, that is. It needs a good scrubbing.)

Double Chocolate Bread

I wanted something chocolatey tonight for dessert, so I adapted a recipe from one of my quick bread books and came up with this.

Double Chocolate Bread

2/3 c. sugar
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 c. milk
1 egg
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a bread loaf pan--whatever size you have is fine. I used my stoneware bread loaf pan and the loaf stuck a bit on the bottom, so be aware of that.

Beat sugar, melted butter, milk, and egg until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, and cocoa. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake 50-55 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out mostly clean.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

This is a very rich bread. It would also be a good recipe for small loaves for gifts--it would make 1 regular sized loaf or 4-5 small loaves.


Taste-testing proved that this is a really rich bread that needs nothing to add to the flavor. Butter or cream cheese might make it too rich. Definitely tasty, though! I'll make this one again.